Thousands of passengers aboard a Carnival cruise ship could finally say goodbye to their tortuous 'vacation.'

The first flights of passengers from the Carnival Dream began arriving to Orlando International Airport on Friday relieved and shockingly not that irritated at being stranded in the Caribbean.

The Carnival Dream had been in St Maarten on the final stop of a seven-day Caribbean cruise when the crew announced a 'mechanical issue' with a diesel generator, passengers said.

Passengers from the Carnival Dream await their luggage as they finally get back to the Orlando International Airport

After arriving at Orlando's airport, passengers will be transported via shuttle to Port Canaveral, Florida, where the cruise ship was originally supposed to dock

Passengers made their way to buses that Carnival had booked for them outside of the Orlando airport

According to passengers, they were not allowed to disembark the ship when it had docked in St Maarten.

Nine charter flights will be arriving in Orlando on Friday and Saturday.

Earlier this week the company announced that it would be making 'comprehensive reviews' to all their ships.

After leaving St Maarten many of the Carnival passengers looked weary as they headed home early from the Caribbean cruise via the airport..

Thousands of travelers crowded into the small international airport on St Maarten as Carnival began the logistical nightmare of getting everyone off the island on flights as it became apparent that no one was sailing back to Port Canaveral in Florida.

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Deja-vu: Weary passengers from the Carnival Dream cruise ship wait at the international airport in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten to catch flights home after their trip was cut short

Sent packing: Passengers from the Carnival Dream had their holiday come to an abrupt end following mechanical problems with the ship

Trouble in paradise: The Carnival Dream, pictured on Thursday, is flying passengers back to the U.S. from St Maarten after it reported problems with its propulsion system leading to overflowing toilets

Late on Thursday, the company
announced that another ship, the Carnival Legend had 'a technical issue'
affecting the sailing speed, forcing the cancellation of a stop in
Grand Cayman Islands.

The
ship is expected to arrive in Tampa as scheduled on Sunday following a
seven-day cruise. Passengers will get a $100 credit, refunds on
pre-purchased shore excursions in Grand Cayman and half off on a future
cruise.

In an official statement to
MailOnline, Carnival said: 'Legend is experiencing a technical issue
with one of the ship’s Azipod units that is affecting the vessel’s
sailing speed. The ship's safety systems and hotel services are all
functioning normally.

'Because
of the reduction in sailing speed, today’s visit to Grand Cayman has
been cancelled and the ship will proceed to its homeport of Tampa, where
it is expected to arrive on Sunday as scheduled.'

The
Dream, which is docked in St Maarten, was forced to fly passengers home
after the ship experienced overflowing toilets and power outages.

Carnival
said that only one public restroom had an overflowing toilet and there
was a separate request for cleaning of a bathroom in a guest's cabin.

Guests on the ship said that there had been minor disruptions to power and water, lasting between ten to 20 minutes.

The
recent plague of problems on board Carnival ships comes after the
Carnival Elation was helped back to port in New Orleans by tugboat last
Saturday. Officials reported a 'minor issue' with steering.

Going home: The Carnival Legend has had a 'technical issue' with its sailing speed and is heading back from Grand Cayman Islands to Tampa, Florida today

It comes a month after sister ship, the Carnival Triumph, was stranded for five days in the Gulf of Mexico.

Carnival announced on Thursday that guests are being flown off the island of St Maarten where the Dream is moored. Passengers will be refunded for three days of the trip and get a 50 per cent discount on future voyages.

The cruise ship, which has a capacity of 3,646 passengers and 1,367 crew, is docked at Phillipsburg in the Caribbean on the last leg of a seven-day cruise from Florida.

Party's over: Passengers have been flying home after their seven-day cruise on the Carnival Dream was cut short on Thursday

Dream's captain alerted authorities of possible trouble with the ship's propulsion system on Wednesday, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami said.

Several passengers told CNN that guests had been held on the boat despite the fact toilets were overflowing and unusable on Wednesday.

Gregg
Stark, who is on vacation with his wife and two children, said 'human
waste' was sloshing on to the floors of some of the ship's bathrooms.

He added: 'The elevators have not been working. They've been turning them on and off, on and off.'

Other passengers said that crew had
announced over the tannoy system that generator problems would take an
hour to fix but that seven hours later, the unsavory situation remained.

Lights out: The Carnival Dream appeared to have darkened decks on Thursday as passengers made their way to the airport to fly back to Florida

Back to reality: Thousands of passengers on the Carnival Dream are being flown back to Florida which takes around two hours

Trouble at sea: The Carnival Dream has reported problems with its propulsion system leading to overflowing toilets at port in St Maarten, Caribbean (stock image)

The ship had been due to leave the Caribbean island at 5pm on Wednesday after making the trip from Port Canaveral.

Passengers will now fly the two hours back to Florida on both commercial and private charter flights.

Petty Officer Sabrina Laberdesque said the ship has functioning sewage and power systems, adding that officials are working to correct the problems.

She said the Coast Guard is not involved because the ship is moored.

Carnival shares fell 1.3 per cent on Thursday morning to $35.24 after the cruise cancellation was announced.

Carnival's official statement: Cruise company ships out guests from St Maarten after ANOTHER liner malfunctions

The Carnival Dream has a technical issue with the ship’s back-up emergency diesel generator which our engineering team is currently working on. Yesterday, during regularly scheduled testing of the ship’s emergency diesel generator, a malfunction occurred. At no time did the ship lose power and the ship’s propulsion systems and primary power source was not impacted. The ship is at dock in St. Maarten.

All guests are safe and comfortable. There were periodic interruptions to elevators and restroom services for a few hours last night. However, all hotel systems are functioning normally and have been functional since approximately 12.30am.

While personnel continue to work on the technical issue we are making arrangements to fly all guests home via private charter flights and scheduled flights from St. Maarten.

Guests on the current voyage will receive a refund equivalent to three days of the voyage and 50 percent off a future cruise.

We are also cancelling the ship's next voyage which is scheduled to depart on Saturday, March 16. Guests scheduled to sail on this cruise will receive a full refund and 25 per cent off a future seven-day cruise. Guests who re-book will have their current rate protected on the future sailing.Additionally, any non-refundable transportation related expenses will be reimbursed.

Yesterday was a scheduled port of call visit to St. Maarten. Guests were able to spend the full day in port and have the option of continuing to do so until their scheduled return home. All of the ship's activities and facilities are fully operational.

We are very sorry for this disruption to our guests' vacation plans and extend our sincere apologies. We look forward to welcoming them back on another Carnival cruise.

The Carnival Dream was on the last leg of a seven-day cruise and was docked in St. Maarten when the technical problem arose. The ship is based in Port Canaveral, Florida.

Trouble in paradise: Power outages and blocked toilets were reported today on board the Carnival liner which is docked in the port of Phillipsburg on the Caribbean island of St Maarten (pictured)

Deplorable: An Instagram photo provided by a passenger on the Carnival Triumph shows guests sleeping outside after the boat was stranded at sea for five days last month

An engine fire crippled sister ship
Carnival Triumph in February, leaving 4,200 passengers stranded in the
Gulf of Mexico for five days without working toilets, power or air
conditioning.

The boat finally limped to shore in
Mobile, Alabama on February 14 where disembarking passengers described
deplorable conditions where human waste sloshed down hallways, they
slept in the open air to escape the heat and smell while food
supplies ran low.

'Restroom': A bag of human waste lies in a box on the outdoor deck of a room on the Carnival Triumph after the ship was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico last month

Extreme: Passengers slept in hallways to try to escape the smell of sewage in their cabins on the Carnival Triumph in February

Several lawsuits have been launched against Carnival - but whether complainants will have any success is doubtful as the cruise company has a legal structure that shields it from big-money lawsuits.

Many passengers will have unknowingly signed Carnival's contracts prohibiting them from class action lawsuits, while the small print also bans them suing on the grounds of emotional distress.